Record Breaking Weekend in the Pool

Swimming and Diving Scoreboard (Dec. 5-8)

Calvin College Invitational—Valparaiso Swimming and Diving
Men: Grand Valley State University 1320, Calvin College 583, Wabash College 560.5, Kalamazoo College 500, Valparaiso 325.5, Tiffin 256, The University of Findlay 188
Women: Grand Valley State University 1193, Northern Michigan 742.5, Calvin College 593, The University of Findlay 478, Kalamazoo College 332, Valparaiso 311.5, Tiffin 44

Miami Invitational—Wright State Swimming and Diving
Men: Denison University 2584.5, Miami University (Ohio) 1468, Wright State 1297.5, Emory University 1293.5, University of Cincinnati 1072.5, Urbana University 291
Women:  Miami University (Ohio) 2332, Illinois 1704.5, Denison University 1388, Emory University 1374.5, University of Cincinnati 856, Ball State University 711, Wright State 454, Urbana University 97

Iowa Hawkeye Invitational—Milwaukee Swimming and Diving
Men: Notre Dame 1228, Iowa 977.5, Denver 669, Milwaukee 248
Women: Notre Dame 823, Boise State 742.5, Nebraska  462, Iowa 436, Denver 415, Washington State 387.5, Milwaukee 226, Iowa State 48

Eastern Michigan Invitational—Oakland Swimming and Diving
Men: Eastern Michigan 1140, Oakland 1126
Women: Oakland 1106, Eastern Michigan 1042

Calvin College Invitational—Valparaiso Swimming and Diving
Men: 5/7; Women: 6/7

The Calvin College Invitational wrapped up Saturday evening with the Valpo men's team scoring 325.5 points, good for 5th place. Meanwhile, the women's squad tallied 311.5 points, which put them in 6th place.

On the final day of the three-day event, Valpo's 200-yard medley relay team of Ciara Lightner (Dixon, Ill./Dixon), Makenna Cannon (Delafield, Wis./Kettle Moraine), Flavia Segatto (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Charleow Flanigan), and Allie Berry (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) earned 24 points via a 1:52.41, ninth-place time.

The men's version of Matt King (Clinton, Ill./Clinton), Frederick Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany), Gonzalo Castro Diaz (Mexico City, Mexico), and Tate Wegehaupt (Tigard, Ore./Tigard) tied Wabash College for sixth-place in the 200-yard medley. Their 1:37.02 time garnered 27 points.

Individually, Segatto notched third-place in the 500-yard freestyle. The junior hit the wall at 5:06.62, good for 16 points.

Lightner added an 11th-place result in the 200-yard backstroke. She stopped the clock at 2:12.22. In men's individual action, King earned 6th place in the 200-yard backstroke with a 1:56.89 time.

Castro Diaz won the B final of the 100-yard butterfly for nine points. He swam a 51.82 time in the finals. Wegehaupt competed in the 200-yard breaststroke, an event that saw the senior register 14 points and a 5th place result via a 2:05.27 time.

Later on, Castro Diaz turned in a 1:55.15 time in the 200-yard IM. The 3rd place finish netted 16 points.

Miami Invitational—Wright State Swimming and Diving
Men: 3/6; Women: 7/8

The Wright State swimming and diving teams competed in the final day of the Miami Invitational Saturday at the Corwin Nixon Natatorium in Oxford.

Kile Aukerman finished fourth in the 200 individual medley while Matt Dassow was fifth in the 500 free, Csongor Bajnoczki fifth in the 200 breast and Alec Carnell eighth in the 100 free.

Iowa Hawkeye Invitational—Milwaukee Swimming and Diving
Men: 4/4; Women: 7/8

Iowa City, Iowa - Two more school records, one more league record and two additional freshman records fell as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee swimming and diving teams capped an outstanding weekend in strong fashion at the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Sunday.

Milwaukee finished the three-day meet with 248 points on the men's side for fourth place. Notre Dame won the meet with 1228.5 points. Host Iowa was second at 977.5 and Denver was third at 669.

On the women's side, UWM placed seventh overall with 226 points. Notre Dame won the women's meet with 823 points, while Boise State came in second at 742.5. Nebraska was third at 462, followed by Iowa (436), Denver (415) and Washington State (387.5). Iowa State came in eighth with 48 points.

Emily McClellan wrapped up her unbelievable weekend in the pool by shattering yet another Milwaukee and Horizon League record, this time in the 200 breaststroke. The senior touched the wall second at 2:06.78, over two seconds faster than her previous personal best and the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA so far this season. That time is also her second NCAA A-cut time of the weekend, automatically qualifying her for her second event at the NCAA Championships in March.

On the men's side, David Chokran twice broke the freshman record to lead a host of Panthers in the event. After convincingly breaking the freshman record set by brother Joe last year during prelims, David dropped more time with a final swim of 2:03.64, lowering the freshman mark by a full second and a half.

Joe Chokran also did well in the event, taking second in the C-final with a season-best time of 2:04.73. Sophomores J.J. Melville, Taylor Wisdorf and Teddy Stackman all also posted season-best times in the C-final.

In diving, K.J. Heger again added his name to the record book, this time in platform diving. The junior broke the old school record in prelims with an NCAA Zone Qualifying mark of 303.20. In finals, Heger bested his new record with a score of 315.75 for second place. That score was also an NCAA Zone Qualifying mark.

Freshman Natalie Johnson continued her record-setting weekend in the 1650 free. The newcomer came in 12th overall in the mile-long swim with a time of 17:08.50, breaking the UWM freshman record by a full five seconds. Kaela Ropson, Kelly Theis, Abby Duke and Chloe Lewis all also posted season-best times in the event on the day.

On the men's side, Milwaukee had three swimmers score in the event. Nic Halverson touched the wall 10th at 15:54.63, the fastest time in Horizon League this season. Tim Halverson was right behind at 16:06.41 for 11th and Kenny Stelpflug was 12th at 16:16.60.

In the 100 freestyle, Mike Lucchesi led the way for the men with a 10th place finish in 45.70. Freshman Nick Menninga won the C-final in 46.46, with Tanner Nimke right behind in 18th at 46.74. Tim Halverson also had a strong showing on the day, taking 20th at 46.87.

Diana Diel led the way for the Milwaukee women, taking 11th with a season-best time of 51.04, less than a second from the school record. Anna Yontz touched the wall at 51.75 for 21st.

In the 200 backstroke, Becky Yokosh swam a season-best 2:01.69 for 14th, while Erika Pliner was 20th at 2:04.20. Jeff Maxwell was 15th on the men's side with an outstanding time of 1:51.05. Chris Jenkyns was 18th at 1:50.97 and Nic Halverson was 19th at 1:53.70.

Hilary Woldt and Johnson both posted personal-best times in the 200 fly prelims and Ryan Finke posted a time of 1:50.84 to lead the way for four men's swimmers.

In relay action, N. Halverson, Lucchesi, Menninga and Nimke combined to take eighth in the 400 free relay to end the meet with a time of 3:04.06. Sierra Townsend, Yontz, McClellan and Diel teamed up to take ninth in 3:27.45.

Eastern Michigan Invitational—Oakland Swimming and Diving
Men: Eastern Michigan 1140, Oakland 1126; Women: Oakland 1106, Eastern Michigan 1042

YPSILANTI, Mich. - Strong performances across the board, including two event wins by Karin Tomeckova and wins and second-place finishes by Emily Ludema, Patricia Aschan and Kyra Rietveld lifted the Oakland women's swimming and diving team to a 1106-1042 win over Eastern Michigan at the EMU invite Saturday.

For the men, despite nine event wins in the second day of action, the Grizzlies took second to Eastern Michigan by a slim 1140-1126 margin. Oakland's Amr el Sayed was a two-time winner and Tuomas Kiviluoma had a win and a top 10 team mark in a second event on Saturday to pace the Golden Grizzlies.

Tomeckova carried over her success from Friday, claiming yet another Oakland University record with her time of 53.66 in the 100 backstroke. Her mark was not only tops in team history, but was good enough for an NCAA "B" qualifying mark. In the evening session, Tomeckova gathered another NCAA "B" when she took first in the 200 IM in a time of 2:01.21. She led a 1-2-3 Oakland finish in the 200 IM, as <="" b=""> (2:06.80) and Stella Pasalidou (2:07.01) finished second and third, respectively.

Also posting an NCAA B time was Rietveld, who to second to Tomeckova in the 100 back, but her time of 54.83 made the qualifying mark. Rietveld then registered a win in the 50 free in a time of 23.74 to lead an Oakland 1-2 finish; Allison Bellford took second in 24.02.

Ludema and Aschan swapped 1-2 finishes in the 400 IM in the morning and the 500 free in the evening. Aschan won the 400 IM with a time of 4:24.33, good for seventh-best in team history, with Ludema taking second (4:27.42). Ludema then won the 500 free in 4:57.95, which is eighth-best in team ladders; Aschan took second in 4:58.65, a time that also is in Oakland top 10s.

Also earning individual wins for the women on Saturday were Julia Vela, who won the 100 fly in 56.10, a time that is eighth in Oakland history; Nikki Flynn, who claimed the 200 free in 1:52.38; and Tricia Grant, who won the 1-meter dive with a score of 267.35. The Golden Grizzlies also won the 200 free relay, the 800 free relay, and finished 1-2 in the 200 and 400 medley relays.

For the men, el Sayed was victorious in the 200 free (1:38.77), leading four Oakland swimmers in the top five places. Jorden Merrilees (second, 1:39.47), Matyas Keresztes (fourth, 1:42.26) and Zach Johnson (fifth, 1:42.47). el Sayed, Merrilees and Jacob Pearson gave Oakland a 1-2-3 finish in the evening session's 500 free, with el Sayed winning in 4:26.34 to edge teammate Merrilees by one-tenth of a second.

Kiviluoma took second in the 100 fly during the morning session in a time of 49.23, which ranks 10th in Oakland team history. The freshman then won the 200 IM in a time of 1:51.40.

In the 50 free, Grant Harding led an Oakland sweep of the top three spots, winning in 20.99. Keresztes (21.07) and Jeremiah Morren (21.27) finished second and third, respectively.

Also turning in individual wins were Hrafn Traustason (100 breast, 57.72) and Aleksander Danielewski (100 back, 49.27). Danielewski's time not only was the best in the league thus far, but ranks sixth in program annals.

Oakland concluded the Saturday morning session with a time of 6:37.62 in the 800 free relay to win the event and set both a meet and pool record. Kiviluoma, Pearson, el Sayed and Merrilees combined for the relay victory. The Oakland men also gathered wins in the 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay.

For the weekend, Oakland accrued five NCAA "B" cuts, including three by Tomeckova. As a team, the Golden Grizzlies finished the two-day event with 74 PRs and 18 new or improved team all-time top 10s.